CHICAGO — Less than a day after long-serving U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky announced she was not running for reelection next year, Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine on Tuesday became the first elected official to join the race to become the next representative from Illinois' 9th Congressional District.

Fine, a longtime resident of Glenview, may end up part of a crowded primary field of Far North Side, and north and northwest suburban Democrats running to replace the 14-term Schakowsky in the strong Democratic district. A progressive critic of the far right and social media content creator, Kat Abughazaleh, had already announced she was joining the race even before Schakowsky said she planned to retire. Abughazaleh also has a head start in fundraising for next year’s race. The primary will be held on March 17.

“We are at a historical moment, where our rights are under attack by a President who is selling out working families to line the pockets of his wealthy cronies,” Fine said in a statement announcing her campaign. “I’ve spent my career fighting that fight, passing historic legislation that puts people over special interests.”

Fine traces her political career back to her husband’s involvement in a 2010 car accident and her ensuing fight with health insurance companies, which she says led her to a “mission to reform the system.”

Last year, she sponsored part of Gov. JB Pritzker’s health insurance reform package to ban short-term “junk” health insurance plans. She is chair of the Senate committee covering mental health and vice chair of the committee on insurance.

When she first joined the state Senate in 2018, after five years in the House, Fine filled the seat vacated by Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who may also run for the 9th Congressional District seat. Biss vacated the seat to run for governor in 2018, losing to JB Pritzker. He was first elected Evanston mayor in 2021 and was reelected earlier this year.

Fine represents a more traditional choice than Abughazaleh, who just moved to Illinois last year and is looking to leverage her national platform criticizing the far right online. So far, Abughazaleh’s campaign strategy has focused largely on holding a number of small community events, but due in large part to her online presence she raised about $379,000 in the first quarter of 2025, according to federal elections disclosures.

Just hours after Schakowsky announced she would not seek a 15th term, Abughazaleh wrote an email to supporters that criticized traditional national Democratic Party leaders’ response to President Donald Trump’s first three months in office.

“I’m running for Congress because it’s time to do more — the same old s— isn’t working,” Abughazaleh wrote in the email. “No matter what party leadership says, strongly worded letters aren’t enough, and symbolic gestures like wearing matching colors and holding up quippy signs aren’t adequate responses to far-right extremism.”

Both Abughazaleh and Fine applauded Schakowsky’s legacy after the congresswoman announced her plans to step aside from the seat she’s held since 1999. Schakowsky, speaking to reporters on Monday, declined to endorse a successor.

Fine joined the race with endorsements from state Reps. Tracy Katz Muhl and Margaret Croke, state Sens. Mary Edly-Allen and Laura Murphy, and Lake County Board chair Sandy Hart, among others, according to her campaign announcement.

The publication Jewish Insider, which reported the news of Fine’s announcement early Tuesday, described her as a Jewish “pro-Israel favorite” in the race. Schakowsky is also Jewish and a staunch supporter of Israel.

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